Better to read Supper Club instead

⭑⭑⭑  I pondered this book for a few days unsure how to review it. I thought the premise of understanding the desire of women would be insightful. Having just read Supper Club (a brilliant novel on a similar vein) I was keen to dig in. I found, instead, a highly descriptive book of three American women and the mess they made of their love lives. What it tells me of a woman's desire is that chasing after a married man and doing anything you can to keep him is not the best way to happiness. It reads more like a book on misery than desire even if much of it was akin to soft porn.

I was on the side of our three women - Maggie, Lena and Sloan - and, initially, wanted to see where their stories went. As the book progressed my interest turned to pity then out and out disgust. It's not about desire at all but, rather, choices and what happens when women ignore life lessons of right and wrong and fail to take responsibility. Even Maggie, as a 17 year old, knows the difference between right and wrong but, having chosen wrong, spent years ruminating over her lost love after she was spurned. We have all had our hearts broken and we get over it and move on. Yes, what happened to her should have never happen but she was a willing, eager party to it. I did finish the book because I wanted to see how her trial ended. It concluded much as you would expect when a teacher of high regard is accused by a young woman of wrong doing.

I could not stomach Lena and the reek of desperation coming off her. Sloane was a more well rounded character but she didn't get to the crux of her issues until the end when she said she was simply doing what her husband wanted.

What was solid and helped the book immensely was the writing style. It read easily, like a novel, and, though too floral, it's descriptive elements did go beyond the requirement. Everyday items were described to the Nth degree as was the copious amounts of sex. Lena was the worst offender by a country mile. Cadbury eggs...oh, dear.